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World Heritage 44 COM WHC/21/44.COM/7 Paris, 21 June 2021 Original: English / French UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION CONVENTION CONCERNING THE PROTECTION OF THE WORLD CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE Extended forty-fourth session Fuzhou (China) / Online meeting 16 – 31 July 2021 Item 7 of the Provisional Agenda: State of conservation of World Heritage properties SUMMARY This document presents a global and analytical overview of Item 7 on the state of conservation of the World Heritage properties. The document is composed of two main parts. After a statistical summary (Introduction), it presents progress achieved in a number of statutory matters related to Reactive Monitoring (Part I) and a focus on other conservation issues (Part II), which might have strategic or policy implications. Draft Decisions: 44 COM 7.1 and 44 COM 7.2 see Part III. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 2 WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES REPORTED ON AT THE EXTENDED 44TH SESSION .......... 2 THREATS AFFECTING THE WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES REPORTED ON AT THE EXTENDED 44TH SESSION ............................................................................................................ 4 INFORMATION ON THE STATE OF CONSERVATION REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES ........................................................................................................................................... 4 SELECTION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES TO BE PROPOSED FOR DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................................................... 5 FOURTH EDITION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE SITE MANAGERS’ FORUM ............................... 6 I. STATUTORY MATTERS RELATED TO REACTIVE MONITORING ............................ 7 EVALUATION OF THE REACTIVE MONITORING PROCESS ........................................................ 7 ISSUES RELATED TO THE LIST OF WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER ......................................... 8 B.1. COSTED ACTION PLANS AND DESIRED STATE OF CONSERVATION FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE PROPERTY FROM THE LIST OF WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER (DSOCR) ............................................................................................................................... 8 B.2. PROPERTIES INSCRIBED ON THE LIST OF WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER FOR OVER 10 YEARS ............................................................................................................................ 10 B.3. IMPROVING THE PERCEPTION OF THE LIST OF WORLD HERITAGE IN DANGER ..... 14 B.4. ‘HERE’ WORKSHOP ........................................................................................................... 16 II. CONSERVATION ISSUES ..........................................................................................17 A. EMERGENCY SITUATIONS RESULTING FROM CONFLICTS ..................................................... 17 B. RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION ......................................................................................... 19 C. POST-2020 GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FRAMEWORK (GBF) ......................................................... 22 D. BUFFER ZONES ............................................................................................................................ 25 E. “NO-GO” COMMITMENT ................................................................................................................ 26 F. FIRE: IMPACTS & MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................ 28 G. URBAN PRESSURES ON CULTURAL WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES ................................. 30 H. HERITAGE IMPACT ASSESSMENTS / ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENTS ................. 32 I. CONSERVATION OF FABRIC, SKILLS AND TRADITIONAL AND CONTEMPORARY TECHNOLOGIES............................................................................................................................ 33 J. EARTH OBSERVATION FOR WORLD HERITAGE CONSERVATION ........................................... 34 III. DRAFT DECISIONS ...................................................................................................36 State of conservation of World Heritage properties WHC/21/44.COM/7, p. 1 INTRODUCTION World Heritage properties reported on at the extended 44th session 1. At its 14th extraordinary session (online, 2020), the World Heritage Committee decided that all items and sub-items that were foreseen for examination in 2020 and 2021 by its previous decisions, be examined at its extended 44th session in 2021 (Decision 14 EXT.COM 3). 2. As a result, as part of the Reactive Monitoring process1, the World Heritage Committee will examine at its extended 44th session the reports on the state of conservation of 255 World Heritage properties (Agenda items 7A and 7B), including the 53 properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger (Agenda item 7A). In addition, due to specific situations, and as decided by the Committee during previous sessions, three general decisions, concerning the World Heritage properties of Iraq, the World Heritage properties of Syrian Arab Republic and the World Heritage properties of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, will also be examined under Agenda item 7A. 3. The properties reported upon are selected, among all those inscribed on the World Heritage List, according to the following considerations: • 53 properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger (Agenda item 7A) and for which reports have to be reviewed annually by the Committee, in conformity with Paragraph 190 of the Operational Guidelines); • 184 properties inscribed on the World Heritage List for which state of conservation reports were requested by the World Heritage Committee at its previous sessions (Agenda item 7B); • 18 additional properties that have also come under threat since the 43rd session of the World Heritage Committee in 2019 (Agenda item 7B); • For 11 properties out of these 255, a follow-up was requested by the World Heritage Committee upon their inscription on the World Heritage List. 4. The 255 properties for examination are distributed as follows: Agenda item 7A NAT CLT total AFR 13 4 17 ARB 0 21 21 APA 2 4 6 EUR/NA 1 3 4 LAC 1 4 5 Total 17 36 53 Agenda item 7B NAT MIX CLT total AFR 16 4 18 37 ARB 3 2 22 27 APA 20 2 35 58 EUR/NA 15 1 32 48 LAC 13 2 17 32 Total 67 11 124 202 1For further details on this process, please visit the dedicated page on the World Heritage Centre’s online State of conservation Information System at http://whc.unesco.org/en/reactive-monitoring. State of conservation of World Heritage properties WHC/21/44.COM/7, p. 2 5. These 255 properties represent 22.8% of all the properties inscribed on the World Heritage List. Significant variations among the regions are noticeable (see below Chart 1). For example, the Africa and the Arab States regions represent 32% and 40% respectively of all properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger (item 7A), although they represent today only 9% and 8% of the World Heritage List respectively. Chart 1: Percentage of properties located in each region 6. There are also significant variations when considering the categories of heritage (natural, mixed and cultural properties). Indeed, while natural properties represent 19% of the World Heritage List, they account for 32% of the properties inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger, and 33% of all properties subject to the Reactive Monitoring process this year (see Chart 2 below). Chart 2: Percentage of properties of each category (natural, mixed, cultural) State of conservation of World Heritage properties WHC/21/44.COM/7, p. 3 Threats affecting the World Heritage properties reported on at the extended 44th session 7. The 255 properties for which a state of conservation report is presented are facing a number of factors, which negatively impact, or may impact, their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV). On average, 4 to 5 different factors affect each of these properties, which emphasizes once more the cumulative impact of threats on the OUV. 8. Globally, the most reported factors affecting the properties continue to be the following ones: Management systems/ management plan; Tourism-related activities; Housing; Impacts of transportation infrastructures; Illegal activities; Legal framework; War and Civil unrest; Mining, oil and gas exploitation/exploration as well as Climate change-related impacts. 9. However, factors affecting the World Heritage properties vary according to the category of heritage considered. The most reported factors affecting respectively natural and cultural properties, as identified in the state of conservation reports presented at the extended 44th session, as well as more detailed statistics, will be available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/soc (click “Advanced search”; enter “from 2020”; click “Search”; then on the “Views” tab, and “Statistics”). 10. The following sections of the document present insights on specific factors, such as conflict situations, reconstruction, fire management, or urban pressure. Information on the state of conservation reports submitted by States Parties 11. A substantial number of reports were not received within the statutory deadlines of 1 December 2019, 1 February 2020, 1 December 2020 or 1 February 2021, as requested by the World Heritage Committee. For example, by 15 December